Negombo – A modest beach town with lot of joy

Negombo is in short distance from the Katunayake International airport. Many holiday makers choose Negombo as their destination because you will spend more time on the beach rather than spending on travelling. It is a small fishing town situated north to the capital Colombo and Katunayake airport, contains Negombo lagoon, ruins of the Dutch Fort (belongs to 17th century), Hamilton Canal (Built by British) which is flowing towards South (Colombo city), Neoclassical St Mary’s church known for magnificent ceiling paintings etc. Being closer to the nation’s Capital Colombo and to the airport Negombo remains as a best choice among tourists for ages.

Main feature of Negambo is the estuarine lagoon. It is fed by several small rivers and the canal. It is surrounded by fields, plantations and grass lands among densely populated areas.

Beach is stretches north from the town for miles along with the hotels strip. Most of the beach front hotels are providing access to beach for foreign tourists even if they are not staying with them. It is relatively safe beach that provides safer swimming and relaxing environment for visitors. Hotels are providing safer area around the beach for their customers. If you choose to enjoy more colorful evening then you can join locals at the Negombo Beach Park. No need to mention that will be more noisier too.

Every day fishermen are going out of sea to catch fish by small boats. It is mesmerizing scene of the fishing boats coming across the lagoon early morning after their fishing trip. They auctioned their catch on the beach (The place called “Lellama”), and sell at the fish market nearby. Not every fisherman is going to open sea. The lagoon provides plenty of unique types of fish of its own. Negombo Lagoon is renowned for lobsters, crabs and prawns. There is another fish market across the lagoon bridge as well.

The Hamilton Canal, also known as the Dutch Canal built by the British when they rule the country. They started construction on 1802 and finishes on 1804. The canal is 14.5 Km long and connecting Colombo and Puttalam via Negambo and Chilaw lagoons. It was built for the purpose of draining sea water from the wetland Muthurajawela. To prepare the area for cultivation, sea water should be drained. Which was flowing continuously by tides. Another purpose of the canal is transportation. It makes the direct waterway between Colombo and Negambo harbor which was very busy port by then. The canal was named after Gavin Hamilton, the Government Agent of Revenue and Commerce. You could rent a bicycle and ride along the canal. It goes through some villages, fishing markets and many more.

Ruins of the old Dutch Fort lays close to the seafront and lagoon mouth. It is dated back to 1678. Nowadays government is using the Fort ground for prison. Hence no way to visit the fort without committing a crime.

The Angurukaramulla Temple is quite a place to visit. Located east to the town. Temple is known for its 6 meters long reclining Buddha statue and over 300 years old ruins of historical library. Also worth to see murals and other decorations, paintings etc.

Muthurajawela is a marshland located to the south of Negambo, spreads over 3000 hectares. Northern part of the Muthurajawela was declared by the government as a wetland sanctuary in 1996 by recognition of its vast bio diversity. The area is home for 192 species of flora and 209 species of fauna as well as another 102 species of birds. Some of them are native to the Muthurajawela marsh. There are so many sightseeing and boat tours operating for visitors.